Saturday, 29 November 2008

RTD Doesn't Know Whos' Next

The Press association Has a report about how Russell T davies has no idea about who's been cast as the 11th doctor and goes on to talk about his OBE:

The executive director of the successful Doctor Who show said the face of the new Time Lord was a mystery to him as he was awarded an OBE.

Russell T Davies said a team was working to find a replacement for actor David Tennant, the Doctor who is quitting the programme, but he had no idea who was in the frame.

The BBC executive has been the creative force behind a number of popular TV series and was awarded the honour for services to screenwriting and drama by the Prince of Wales during a Buckingham Palace investiture service.

The Swansea-born writer, 45, breathed new life into the sci-fi classic when the BBC revived it in 2005 but in the summer he announced he was leaving the series.

He said: "Honestly, the people who are choosing the next Dr Who are in the office next to me and I do not know what they're doing, I'm not kidding, I'm not part of it.

"Imagine if you took over a new job, you don't want the old bloke popping his head round the door saying 'can I give you some advice?'."

During the ceremony Dame Joan Bakewell received a damehood and said she hoped the honour would raise the profile of Britain's arts community.

The Stockport-born presenter, 75, dubbed "the thinking man's crumpet" by comedian Frank Muir in the 1960s, received the honour for services to journalism and the arts in a career spanning more than 40 years.

She said: "I hope it gives a profile to the arts world in our country, the arts community.

"In times of recession and shrinking money the arts is one of the great consoling factors because you can turn to books and paintings and literature for insights into the human condition which greed and money can't buy."